Let the Games Begin
by justmesg
Summary: Booth asks Brennan for a small favor... join him and Parker for the family FBI picnic and compete with them in the annual games.


This is a one shot I wrote involving Parker, Bones, and Booth at a FBI picnic. Comments are appreciated

"Hey Bones what are you doing this week end?" Booth asked while wondering into her office.

"Most of the time Booth I find you only ask that if you have something for me to do in mind already."

"Ah Bones sometimes your too smart." Booth muttered while plopping down on Brennan's couch. "Here's the thing Bones, I have Parker this weekend and there's an FBI picnic going on down at the park. Every year they have a series of games for the kids and their parents the only thing is you need at least 3 people to enter the competition. Normally I would get Rebecca to join us but she can't make it this year and Parker really wants to go so." He looked at her hopefully with a smile on his face.

"I don't know Booth is this going to take up my whole weekend because I have a lot of work to do in modular storage, and I was hoping to write another chapter in my book." Brennan decided not to look up but to continue to focus on her computer screen. That charm smile worked better then Booth knew.

"It'll only be a day Bones, half a day at that. Limbo will be waiting for you when you get back."

"All right I suppose what time do I have to be at the park tomorrow."

Booth smiled bigger and did a happy dance in his head. That was easier then he thought it would be. "We'll pick you up at 9:00 tomorrow; it's tradition for us to get breakfast at the dinner beforehand."

"Tradition, Parkers only 6 how much of a tradition could it be?" Brennan was not a morning person especially when she had to deal with small children.

"Thanks Bones." Booth winked as he walked out of her office and the lab.

The next morning Brennan was on her second cup of coffee when she heard the knock on her door. Better get this over with she thought. As she opened the door she couldn't help but smile as she saw two identical grins on the Booth boys. Maybe the day wouldn't be so bad.

"Hey Dr. Bones thanks for coming with us today."

"You're welcome Parker I'm sure it will be lots of fun." Hopefully Parker couldn't tell her unease to the situation.

"Let's get a move on guys, Parker why don't you go push the elevator button." Parker hurried off down the hall eager to fulfill his important task of pushing the button. "Don't worry Bones you'll do fine." Booth assured her before they caught up.

After an uneventful breakfast the trio headed to the park which was a short walk away.

"So Parker tell Bones about all the fun stuff we get to do today."

"There's egg toss and wheel barrow races and the obstacle course and the big q-tip game although I'm still too little for that it's only for the grown-ups but it's fun to watch." Parker replied enthusiastically and Booth began to chuckle.

At this Brennan got a worried look on her face. "I don't know what any of that means?" This only made him laugh harder.

Booth spotted the head table right away and began walking the group over to sign in for the games. "Hey Sherry looks like a big turn out this year."

"Yep we're expecting a crowd this year. This can't be Parker could it?" Sherry replied while looking Parker up and down. Parker nodded his head a little shy of this stranger who knew him. "Wow you got big in a year not much longer and you'll be as big as your dad."

This unexpected compliment made Parker a little less shy. "Dad says that's cause I eat my vegetables." His charm smile was back on his face now.

"Definitely a Booth that's for sure, and who is this lovely lady Seeley last I heard you where still on the market. You're going to disappoint a lot of women today."

Booth blushed at Sherry's implication, "Sherry I'd like you to met Dr. Brennan my _partner_. Bones this is Sherry, Charlie's wife she organizes most of this every year."

"Oh it's so nice to finally put a face to the name." Sherry said extending her hand to Brennan who shook back with a confused look on her face.

"What do you mean by Booth being still on the market?"

"Dr. Bones is silly daddy." Parker said in amusement not realizing Brennan was serious in her inquiry.

"Come on Parker lets go show Bones the q-tips." Booth decided it would be safer than having Sherry answer her question. Sometimes he wasn't sure who was worse when it came to matchmaking, Sherry or Angela.

"So the giant q-tips you where referring to Parker are actually large jousting swords in which two alpha males can battle for dominance without the worry of getting hurt due to the protective armor they're wearing." Brennan said while studying two men on the balance beam.

"I think so. All I know is that daddy usually wins this event. It's fun to watch him hit the other people down." Booth looked at his son with pride after he heard Parkers description. It was short lived though.

"I calculate given your weight and height combined you would have a higher center of gravity that would make you easy to beat Booth even with your strength." Brennan stated confidently.

"Now just wait a minute Bones I'm undefeated three years running in this game and Parker here is my lucky charm right son."

"Right dad, although Bones does know everything," Booth could see his son torn between believing him or Bones. "Nope sorry Dr. Bones I'm going to go with daddy on this one. Even mommy says I'm his lucky charm." Booth's smirk grew even bigger at this.

"There's an easy way to settle this Booth, put your currency were your mouth is."

"First off its money Bones and secondly you're out of luck because I won't hit a woman."

"Well without an experiment how can we discover whose hypothesis is correct?"

Oh no Bones had that determined look on her face. He had to think fast to get out of this one. "They split up the partners on either side of the board to make it even in this part of the tournament so if you make it to the final two we will face each other but only then am I stepping into the ring with you Bones." Booth thought this was a good solution to his problem considering she didn't stand a chance to make it to the final 2. Just then an announcement came for the start of the wheelbarrow races.

"Oh daddy we got to hurry this is my favorite." Booth and Brennan didn't have a choice but to move as the little boy pulled them along in his excitement the jousting forgotten for now by both.

"Okay Bones here's how this all works." Booth began once they stepped up to the races. "The kids get to participate in every game while the adults switch-off so do you want the three lagged race and the egg toss or do you want to do the sack race and the wheelbarrow race?"

"Well given the length of your stride Booth I think it would only be logical that I do the three lagged race. I'm not sure what an egg toss is, however, or the other two for that matter."

"It's a kid game Bones no logic allowed. Well you'll see what the wheelbarrow race is shortly we'll meet you by the finish line. Come on Parker lets go take our spot." Parker didn't have to be told twice as he hurried off to the starting line.

Brennan watched as the kids all got on the ground curious as to what they were doing. Then as the man with the air horn set it off all the adults reached down and grabbed their kid's feet. She watched amused as Parker and Booth moved forward slowly emerging ahead of the 20 or so other pairs. Squeals of delight could be heard from most of the kids and it only got louder as some of the kids began to fall over creating a domino effect. Booth and Parker made it to the finish line just ahead of the others to get the win. Brennan walked over to congratulate them.

"We won Dr. Bones! We won!" Parker was jumping up and down with his fists in the air and only stopped when Brennan got close enough for a hug. "Come on Daddy you have to give Dr. Bones a hug too. We've never won before so she must be our good luck charm." Both Booth and Brennan blushed and gave each other a quick hug unfortunately they didn't know Sherry was watching them.

"Just partners huh. I don't think Charlie has ever hugged his partner before." Sherry said while passing by causing their fading blushes to come back ten-fold.

"Well his partners a guy." Booth weakly defended to Sherry's retreating figure.

"I thought what we did where guy hugs Booth?" Brennan looked deep in thought waiting for Booth's answer.

"You're a girl Dr. Bones, girls don't get guy hugs." Parker stated laughing at the thought of Dr. Bones being a guy. Booth on the other hand wished for the first time ever that Parker hadn't learned to talk.

"Well I… you see Bones" Thankfully he was cut off by the announcement for the egg toss to begin. "Oh Bones we better hurry don't want to be late for the egg toss."

"So as you toss the egg back and forth you have to stop it from breaking. When it breaks your out," Parker finished explaining as they neared the area. Parker quickly took a spot on the line with the other kids while Brennan stayed by Booth.

"That sounds awfully messy Booth."

Booth gave her a shove to where the other adults where standing "Good luck Bones."

As everyone begin throwing their eggs back and forth several people where out from the get go. Brennan was happy to see that like his father Parker had a natural athletic ability. The shouts from the by standers got louder as it got down to the final two, Brennan and Parker and a father and daughter.

"Dr. Bones duck." Parker shouted as the other teams egg came right for her. Brennan however always the literal person started looking at the ground for a duck causing the egg to hit her square in the chest. The whole crowd was silent for a moment and then erupted into laughter. "You should come every year Dr. Bones your funny." Parker managed to get out between his fit of giggles.

"I'm going to assume that you meant for me to get out of the way rather then look for the animal Parker." Brennan replied looking at her ruined shirt.

"Wow Bones nothing gets by you." Booth was handing her napkins he got from a near by food stand.

"Well if I'm correct we won which means I get a hug from both of you" Parker who was farther away then his dad watched with joy as Brennan captured his dad in a big hug. A string of egg yoke could be seen connecting the two as she pulled away causing the younger Booth to giggle.

"What about the boy." Booth said with a smirk as Brennan and he shared a look. Parker new better then to wait around and took off running being chased by the adults through the now cleared out field. Booth caught up to him easily and grabbed him upside down much to his delight.

"So, Booth, do they sell t-shirts at this fare because in this weather these are going to start to smell?"

"Yeah Bones we can get some cool FBI shirts to change into. How about it Parker?"

"Yeah! But you may have to put me down first daddy." Parker said still hanging upside down.

Shortly after changing into their new t-shirts they heard the announcement for the next game, the sack races.

"So what is a sack race Parker?"

"Oh, its lots of fun Dr. Bones, you get to stand in giant potato sacks and hop around like kangaroos. First us kids get to go then we meet up with our parents halfway down the line and then they finish the race. The best part is the parents are blindfolded to make it trickier for them." Parker explained with excided hand gestures and jumping.

"Sounds like fun." Brennan replied.

"Don't you guys look like a cute family with your matching shirts." Sherry had spotted them again and ever the persistent one she felt the need to point out how the partners were acting more like a family.

"We had to get new shirts cause Dr. Bones gave daddy an eggy hug. It was gross."

"Oh more hugging interesting." Sherry said and was gone before Booth could form a response.

"Alright Bub lets go take our places." Thankfully Sherry's comment had passed over Bones.

As the air horn went off again Brennan found herself getting into the race cheering for Parker as he hopped along with a huge smile on his face. The parents turned out to be even more fun to watch than the kids because they weren't going very straight due in large part to the blindfolds. All the sudden one of the men on the end started hopping sideways and before he lost his balance half the adults had been tripped to the ground Booth included. To avoid any injuries the judge called a tie for 10th place between all the parents involved in the pile up allowing them to remove their blindfolds. The trio was too busy laughing to care that they didn't win the race.

"You should have done the sack race Dr. Bones, daddy always falls." Booth blushed at his son's words.

"Half of us crashed out there how could I avoid it." Booth said as an excuse.

"Daddy you fell down last year and there was no one else around you." Parker countered, this made Brennan laugh.

"Laugh it up Bones we'll just see how you do in the three legged race."

The three legged races were to take place in the same location as the sack races so the trio traveled to a nearby food stand for some much needed refreshments.

"Can I have some cotton candy daddy?" Parker wondered as his eyes lit up at the sight of all the sugar.

"Let's wait till after the race Park, we don't want to get Bones all sticky now do we. How about an Elephant ear instead?" At this Brennan and Parker's faces lit up. Booth got in line to get the snacks while the others found a table.

"Dr Bones I've always wondered, there not real Elephant ears are they?" Parker was a little scared of the answer to his question. He liked elephants and didn't want to eat them but they tasted almost as good as pie and where going to be hard to give up if it were real elephants.

Brennan seemed surprised by the question; she was usually the literal one where ever she went but reassured the little boy none the less. "Don't worry Parker its nothing more than a fancy donut and there are no elephants in a donut are there?"

"So I guess they should have a disclaimer like the television shows, no elephants where harmed in the making of this snack." Parker joked feeling very relived at the answer. Booth joined in on his son's laughter having heard the tail end of their conversation, Brennan however, had returned to a look of confusion at Parker's statement. Why would they need a disclaimer on a snack?

"I'd hate to interrupt this _family_ moment but I thought I'd let you know that if you place in the top three for the next event then you guys won the events for today." Sherry spoke coming over to where they were seated. "It's always nice to see a happy _family_ win." And with that she was off. Booth was thankful Brennan never noticed the insinuation with what Shelly was saying.

The elephant ear was quickly devoured by the three and Brennan and Parker moved to the starting line of the race. "I go on the left Dr. Bones, the adults go on the right." Parker began explaining the rules.

"Well if you're on the left Parker then you have a very important job to do." Brennan had been trying to decide how to logically play into Parker's abilities to get them to win the race all day and she had come up with a plan.

"What important job? I've never had one before when I raced with daddy." Parker looked on both curiously and ready for the task.

"Well you have the important job of telling us when to move our feet. When we need to move the outside ones say 1 and when we need to move the one that's tied together say 2 so that way we move together."

"Okay I think I got it Dr. Bones. I'm ready to win."

Meanwhile Booth found a good place to watch. He knew his son well and based on previous experiences with the boy combined with Bone's communication skills this was going to be funny to watch. He was just too active a child to do well in this race. At the sound of the air horn the race began and Booth was amazed. Parker was not only doing it but they were winning. As the race came to an end Booth saw something he didn't think he would ever see: Bones and Parker where celebrating and hugging each other with matching huge grins on their faces. Booth quickly joined in the celebration and then the family of three made their way to the awards area to take a seat.

"Yeah Dr. Bones we get a ribbon for winning. After that it's time for the q-tips!" Booth couldn't decide if Parker was more excited about the ribbon or the pending jousting.

This was it Booth thought. No more stalling it was time for the Q-tips. Wait why was he calling it Q-tips? Why was he even talking to himself? Was he really that worried about Bones getting to the finals? There was no way she could beat all those FBI agents was there? He was drawn out of his endless thoughts by Parker running over to him.

"Come on daddy you don't want to miss Dr. Bones in the ring do you?" His excitement was contagious as the Booth boys ran off to watch.

They had almost missed the show it was over so fast. Apparently Physics and specific knowledge of past injuries combined to form a pretty unstoppable opponent at this game.

"Wow Booth I think you've finally found a girl who can give you a run for your money." Sherry said popping up behind Booth.

"Why do you keep appearing from nowhere every time something happens?" Booth wondered. He was now very worried about having to face his partner in the finals.

"So no denying she's your girl, interesting." Sherry said as she disappeared back into the crowd of people that where forming.

"What? No you tricked me." Booth stammered out to Sherry's retreating figure.

"How did I trick you Booth? I told you I would be good at this and when have I ever lied before?" Brennan said completely confused at the situation.

"Just never mind Bones I wasn't talking to you." As Booth made his way to the jousting area he was still confused as to what he was going to do. There was no way he could fight Bones but there was no way he could lose and let his son down. He just had to pray that one of her next 4 opponents would knock her down, gently of course.

Half an hour later and luck was not proving to be on Booth's side as Brennan had cleared all of her opponents just as quickly as her first. Sure enough as the finals came up Sherry appeared once more so she could watch Parker for him as they jousted, successfully taking away his last out. He tried one more tactic while on the jousting beam with her.

"Bones you know you don't have to get into the ring with me if you don't want. I know it's intimidating facing an undefeated person." He hopped that sounded more confidant then he felt.

"Well then I should be offering you the same courtesy Booth because logically I would also be undefeated in order to get this far." Brennan countered.

"Yes but I'm undefeated for 3 years now Bones. That's a lot different than 1."

"Logically that makes sense but I am fairly certain I can beat you so also logically I should compete."

"Are they always fighting like this?" Sherry asked the little boy next to her.

"Yeah but they call it bickering." Parker answered nodding up at her.

"Let's see some jousting already!" someone from the random crowd shouted to the pair.

This sprang Brennan into action as she started swinging her stick at Booth. He however, was able to deflect every one of her shots. About a minute into the match none of the fans knew who was winning. After the second minute they decided to call the match a draw between the partners.

"Yeah I think Booth has finally met his match." Sherry said forgetting her young audience.

"What do you mean by that?" Parker questioned.

"Oh you'll understand when you're older and have your own girl to bicker with." Sherry said with a knowing grin.


End file.
